Roma, Bella Chaos

Our long and winding road finally led us to Rome, as all roads do they say.  What a place it was, from the massive Colosseum to the delicious gelato, Romans standing while they did everything, and vespas coming at us from every corner. Rome was beautiful, chaotic, delicious, historic and oh so entertaining - all wrapped into one fun package.  At times it wooed us, and at other times it almost killed us (or at least we thought so, to Romans it was just crossing the street as usual), but in between those moments, we obviously saw lots of sights, and ate lots of great food.

Roman autumn on the Tiber River (Can you name that massive church in the background?)

Rush hour, which lasts all day long

On the subject of the amazing historical sights, I (Jessie), have been fascinated by the Colosseum for years.  From my multiple history reports on it, to the framed poster on my wall, or the screensaver on my computer, this is my place of all places and I've wanted to see it more than any other place in the whole world. Needless to say, upon getting our first view of it coming out of the metro stop I cried tears of joy, and what did Nathan do?  He said "God, I knew you were gonna cry. We should have made a bet."  Upon composing myself, we moved off to the side where I sat looking at this beautiful ruin for quite a while.  It was a great first sight of Rome.  After this it was all just icing on the cake, and that icing on the cake sure was good.  The forum, Palatine Hill, the original Capitol Hill, the Trevi Fountain, and all the other famous Roman stuff dazzled us like they do on their postcards. 



Colosseum Version 2.0, Italian Style



Gladiator Jessieaus Maximus charging into battle



The mandatory panoramic Colosseum pic

Cute Colosseum kitty

Chillin atop Capitol Hill

So many ruins, so hard to determine what they used to be

The huts of Romulus and Remus??

What a compassionate She-wolf she was, suckling Romulus and Remus to life, thus founding Rome

Got a problem? Take it to the Senate

After all the ruins started to look the same, we sought out other avenues of entertainment like walking, eating, or sitting and people watching.  Pretty grueling stuff we put ourselves through.  Our itinerary provided us with lots of good memories though.  Eating while standing a lot, drinking while standing a little, trying to order a coffee amidst a mob of people, seeing some Egyptian stuff, and seeing the largest line for a sight ever (the Vatican, those Catholics sure do love their Pope), just to name a few.  Something we ended up doing a lot that actually was grueling was looking for public bathrooms.  Seriously, do Romans ever go to the bathroom?  Based on the lack of available bathrooms it sure seems like that answer is a no.  What is their secret, or maybe where is their secret?

In Rome, Italy, your special is Italian Food? Shocking

Only like 1/2 of the Vatican entry line



The Vatican's Finest

After being in Rome and all its Catholicness for a couple days these chic looking nun outfits sure looked tempting

"Is that an Egyptian pyramid in Rome or am I just crazy?"

"Don't know about the pyramid but that sure is an Egyptian obelisk!!!"

Just guranteed her return to Rome

Relaxin on the ruins



After touring the Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine hill, we needed to see it live and in 3D.  Sadly, this place stunk for fulfilling that purpose.



Eating a sandwich Roman style



Public display of affection, a common sight



Waiting to buy cigarettes, another common sight

 Standing in the street to drink and talk, seemed to be another common sight, based on all these people behind us

There you have it, our glorious five days in Rome.  Good times and great old ruins.  Now we have moved on to Chania, Greece.  To take a vacation from our vacation.  All that traveling we did in the past month and a half required some more down time.  What not a better place to do that than on a Greek Island.  More to come later about that. 

Until next time, keep on traveling,

Jessie and Nathan